On 2 September 2018 I organised a yoga and beach clean session down on Exmouth beach.
It was family friendly with plenty of kids coming along and climbing on parents throughout but also joining in helping to pick up litter.
It felt awesome! There was a light hearted ness to the yoga class and then a community feel to the beach clean.
The wonderful Bumble and Sea gave money off hot drinks when we reached Orcombe Point and we all got chance to chat.
Emily from Forage and Find Me came along and managed to gather some plastic, old laces and other items which she uses to make jewellery – clever lady! She also gave all families a vegan cloth food wrap!
It just got me thinking about two aspects of yoga. The first of which is ‘ahimsa’ which means to cause no harm, something which can be taken very literally but also needs to be considered in a less direct way; the harm we cause when allowing rubbish to enter our seas, killing and injuring wildlife is something we all contribute to but don’t see happening. I could go on about other ways to practise ahimsa but that’s a whole other post!
The second aspect of yoga that came to mind was Karma Yoga which means ‘action’ Yoga but without seeking the benefits of that action. So ‘selfless actions’ – in a nutshell. Yes of course we are looking to make a prettier beach when cleaning up but clearly the benefit to other creatures here is considerable.
Anyway! What did we find? Cigarette ends! Loads of them against the sea wall, the remains of a sky lantern, abandoned sand toys and food wrappers amongst other things.
Exmouth is a relatively clean beach but keep your eyes peeled next year because there’ll definitely be more of these sessions.
Yoga With Anna 